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Sasquatch Faces Rejection at The Tennis Court

Two
girls are playing tennis in the tennis court at foot of some mountains.
In the middle of the match, one of the girls looks up and sees
Sasquatch standing at the edge of the court with a tennis racket
clutched in his paw. "Hey Terri look," she says, pointing, "a
sasquatch." Terri stops in mid-serve and turns towards him.

"And just what do you think you're doing here?" She places her hands on her hips.

Sasquatch snorts, swatting at the air with his Shiny New Racket and looking hopeful. Terri shakes her head.

"Sasquatches
aren't allowed on this court." She says, pointing to a large white sign
which displays the silhouette of a hulking figure inside a
crossed-out red circle. "Now you had better get out of here or else
we'll call the game warden, right Jenna?"

"Right." says Jenna, squinting into the setting sun.

Sasquatch
bows his head and traces a line in the dirt with his toe. He drops his
Shiny New Racket and catches it by the strap, letting it swing limply
from it hand.

"Now beat it," Terri shouts, punching the air, "Beat it or else."

Sasquatch
doesn't say anything. He swats at his ear and snorts away a fly and
then smiles dumbly and begins walking towards them.

"NO!" Jenna shouts, "Don't you understand English you IDIOT? GO HOME! We hate you and you can't play with us!"

She
scoops up a plastic water bottle and throws it at Sasquatch. It bounces off
his head. He flinches, his arms dropping limply to his sides.
His lower lip begins to quiver. He turns and begins walking away, his
racket dragging on the ground behind him. The girls glance at each
other.

"Wait, come back! We're sorry!" Jenna suddenly cries out.

Sasquatch whirls around, his eyes filled with hope.

"Just
kidding!" the girls scream together. They fall to the ground, clutching
their bellies and howling with laughter. Sasquatch stands watching them
for a moment, tears welling in his beady black eyes, and then he turns
and starts off again. After he disappears into a nearby stand of trees,
the girls stagger to their feet, breathing heavily and wiping away
tears.

"Could you believe that old sasquatch?" Terri says, brushing the dirt from her pants.

"Yeah I know right?" says Jenna, "What a dork."

They begin hitting the ball back and forth carelessly, but soon it grows too dark to see anything. They decide to start home.

"Still," says Terri, bumping Jenna with her hip, "You have to admit he WAS kind of hot...for a sasquatch."

Back
at his old log cabin, Sasquatch sits near an open fire, turning his
brand new tennis racket over and over in his hands. He stands up, drops
into his tennis stance, and mimes his ideal match, swatting and
swishing at imagined balls. After a while, he stops and stands
with his eyes closed and head raised to the sky, imagining he can hear
the roar of the crowd. He sighs and slumps off into his old log
cabin, closing the door behind him.

He lies in bed and pulls the covers up to his chin. He promises himself he will not cry.